Not Ella but Alia
(how many times did I erase this thinking it was a different story)
Winn Schott narrates as he, Director Jo'nzz Martin Stein and eventually Superman figure out how to help thier newest alien guest.
“I'm flattered you've asked for my assistance. I'm just not sure how much help I can be.”
“We figured fresh eyes could help. This is not a species, or an issue we've dealt with before.”
“You say she tries to communicate, but clearly can't speak?”
“She understands us, she writes and speaks with her hands and other things. Unfortunately frustration usually wins out. It's not like she doesn't speak English she just doesn't speak.”
At which point the woman they were observing sits bolt upright on her sofa. And clearly agitated mouths these words: Just because you can't hear me doesn't mean I can't speak.
“You can talk, we just can't hear you?”
Pantomiming as well as trying to enunciate. “And since none of you can read my lips.” holds up hand in a 'wait' gesture. “It's hard, I know, getting so many letters confused. That's why I try to talk like this.” Makes motions and sweeping gestures with her hands. “Movement and language of the body.” coughs painfully. “It hurts. Talking even this loud...hurts.” She caught her breath and started chanting something. There was clearly a rhythm to it. But she had given up trying to speak loud enough for us to hear. Still I got the feeling that whatever she was saying was important.
“Uhh...okay we are getting somewhere. Let's keep going?” I said mildly.
“We shouldn't.” J'onn Jo'nzz said. “Not without additional assistance. I think we need to call in an alien friend of ours. Someone who could hear her without so much effort on her part. And another soul not worn down from trying to understand her. You're welcome to stay if you want Doctor Stein.”
“Thank you, I think I will.” Martin Stein said distractedly.
About a minute later Superman flew into the DEO. He walked through the facility until he found the observation room and the three observers. “What's the matter?” Superman said professionally.
“We have an alien here we can't hear. She can understand us but her voice is...beyond our audible range. And we actually just now figured that much out.” J'onn said mildly. “She's been in this room for weeks. It was clear she could understand us, and wanted to talk to us but she stayed silent...or what we thought was silent until now. I'd like you to try to talk to her. She knows we're friends, well enough. I mean she knows we are closer to her friends than her enemies. I hope you can help figure out not only what is happening that keeps her 'silent' to our ears, but why it is so.
“You hope for an open dialogue without so much trouble. I can see how it can get exhausting.”
Superman or Kal'el walked into the observation room with me at his heels. The woman, who we all called 'Ella' smiled softly at him. 'L' she whispered. Making the shape of an 'L' with her left hand she pointed at the emblem on his chest.
“That's right, the house of El.'” Superman said with a faint smile. “I was hoping you and I could talk for a while. J'onn thinks it might be easier for you to talk to me...physically speaking.”
Ella made a 'C' with her hand, pointed at superman, pointed to her right ear and pointed to herself. At the same time she verbally asked 'can you hear me'. “Yes...yes I can hear you. But J'onn says it actually hurts you, even to talk this loud or at least this clearly. He says you can write English, o maybe just do that? For your sake I mean. It's less exhausting I bet.” Ella got up, picked up 3 pens from the floor and grabbed a notepad. When she held it up, we read:
“ 'Do you remember how you became who you are now? Do you remember how it felt to breathe without gasping With all your might?' ”
“What does that mean?” Superman asked.
Once I realized he was asking me not her I answered. “Earlier she was repeating something, a chant or a song. It seemed like she was trying to tell us something important. And she is. This lyric must have something...” I realized a possible application of her terms and said it aloud. “You can breathe but the air is too thin for you. It hurts to talk...because you run out of air?”
Not thin__Contaminated.
Superman looked like someone had just slapped him in the head with a lead 2x4. “There is something in our air that literally hurts you. You gag on our atmosphere. Which is why we can't hear you...or they can't. But why would that...” She held up her hand to tell him 'wait' and started writing again.
“The resonance of my voice with your air. The 'air' resonates differently with my vocal cords. You can hear me...kryptonian powers here on Earth. But while not my native state, in these conditions my voice is sub-sonic...Or might as well be. Yet giving others super-hearing isn't the only answer.”
“Figuring out what it is about Earth's air that hurts you? So we can give your room atmospheric conditions that don't hurt you so badly?” Superman guessed.
“What IS the composure of your air?” She wrote. Meaning by it 'composition'. I picked up another pen and wrote '97% nitrogen and oxygen. 0.9% argon. 1% everything else.' She looked down, read what I'd wrote and bent over the paper, scribbling furiously. When I saw what she had written, I understood why.
ARGON! Gas. Poison. Chamber. Smothered.
“Uhh, we should go tell the others about this.” I told Superman. “Excuse us Ella we...really need to report our findings.” I tuned and left the room.
“By Rao.” Superman said as soon as we were out of the room. Without a word he handed J'onn the notepad we'd been using. “I know you were watching, so you saw the reactions on each of our faces. Here's what we were reacting too.” J'onn and Martin Stien read over the paper.
“So there is something in our air that is literally smothering her. It's not even that there isn't enough air in the room...although I imagine the effect is much the same.” Martin said casually.
“Obviously.” J'onn said curtly. “She's reacting exactly like there isn't enough air in the room. If we adjust the atmospheric settings in her room to .6 not .9 argon things would sound weird for us. Clark and I could probably handle it no problem but everyone else would sound and feel like they were on helium.” Superman looked up sharply, but didn't say anything. In fact if anything he looked pleased. I made no comment either; it was definitely a discussion for another time. Martin Stein of course simply nodded. He knew Superman was being mentioned and figured we weren't supposed to know. But the name itself meant nothing particular to him. Even so I felt I should try to redirect the conversation.
“But it's an easy enough adjustment to make isn't it?” I asked. “I don't know about anyone else but I'm more concerned with her being able to talk to us without needing painkillers than sounding like Micky Mouse when I talk to her.”
“Can't argue with you there.” J'onn and Superman said at once.
“Is 0.6 Argon the only adjustment that would need to be made?” Martin quipped. J'onn nodded. “I'll come up with a portable chamber for her use outside these walls. In the meantime, can someone who has access to the DEO servers help me adjust the conditions of this chamber so she's...more at ease?”
“Yes, I can definitely help with that.” J'onn said “You two, tell Ella what we've figured out...and what we plan to do about it.” The instant Superman and I entered her room the first thing I hear was 'Elana'. But from Superman. I looked over at him. "I'm sorry?"
“She said her name isn't 'Ella' it's 'Alia' She thought you'd want to know.”
“It certainly helps.” I quipped.
Alternate take:
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